April 2013 - Page 2 of 22

Dine Nation Member, Kansas Begaye, Crowned Miss Indian World

Source: Native News Network

ALBUQUERQUE – Kansas Begaye, 24, from Rio Rancho, New Mexico, and member of the Navajo Dine Nation was crowned Miss Indian World at the 30th Annual Gathering of Nations, the most prominent American Indian powwow in the world.

Miss Indian World Kansas Begaye is crowned. (click to enlarge)

Kansas Begaye received the honor out of 16 American Indian women representing their different tribes and traditions who competed in the areas of tribal knowledge, dancing ability, public speaking, and personality assessment. The new Miss Indian World graduated from the University of New Mexico in 2011.

“Miss Indian World is one of the most prestigious honors in the Native American and indigenous world and the winner will serve as a role model for all Native Americans. Begaye will travel the world educating others about tribal and cultural traditions, and bring together native and indigenous people,”

said Melonie Mathews, coordinator of the Miss Indian World Pageant.

Begaye will travel to many native and indigenous communities around the world on behalf of the powwow. She is the daughter of Dorothy and Leonard Begaye. As Miss Indian World, she will represent all native and indigenous people as a cultural goodwill ambassador for one year.

Brittany Clause, 22 years old from Six Nations, Canada, and a member of Cayuga Nation of Iroquois Confederacy was named first runner-up at the pageant. She is currently attending Buffalo State University in Buffalo, New York.

Yonenyakenht Jesse Brant, 25 years old from Six Nations, Canada, and member of the Mohawk and Turtle Clan tribes was named second runner-up. She graduated from George Brown College in Toronto, Canada in 2009.

In the case that Miss Indian World cannot fulfill her responsibilities, the first runner-up will take her place. If the first runner-up is unable to fulfill her duties after having taken over for Miss Indian World, the second runner-up will take her place.

Apache Superhero Warpath to be in New X-Men Movie

By Steve Mohan, Native News Network

LOS ANGELES – James Proudstar, better known as Warpath is a superhero from the Marvel Universe that grew up on an Apache reservation. “X-Men: Days of the Future Past” director Bryan Singer tweeted out a video(see below) showing that Warpath will be featured in the upcoming movie.

Apache Superhero James Proudstar known as Warpath

The short video shows chairs from the movie set with the character names on them. One of those chairs shows “James Warpath Proudstar” as one of those characters. Although not confirmed it is assumed that Booboo Stewart from the “Twilight” franchise will be taking on the role of Warpath.

In the comics, Warpath plays the younger brother of Thunderbird, a former X-Men who died in the line of duty. Warpath started off as a villain who blamed the X-Men and Charles Xavier for his brother’s death. He eventually becomes a hero and has been a major character in many Marvel titles since then.

In the Marvel Universe, mutants are humans who have evolved and are born with super powers that manifest during puberty. Warpath’s powers include superhuman strength and agility.

It remains to be seen how Warpath will be used in the movie. In the comics, “Days of the Future Past” is a storyline in which Kitty Pryde comes from the future to warn the X-Men of a future where mutants are imprisoned and hunted to the brink of extinction. How much the movie version of this story stays true to the comic is up for debate at this point

One thing is for certain, Marvel has always been at the forefront in Native American heroes and villains with over 40 taking up residence in the Marvel Universe. With Warpath in “X-Men: Days of the Future Past” it might not be long until we see more and more of these characters finding their way to the big screen

Book Review: The Story of Two Unsung Heroes

The Last Great Battle Of The Indian Wars
Henry M. Jackson, Forrest J. Gerard And The Campaign For The Self-Determination Of America’s Indian Tribes
by Mark Trahant | Cedars Group | 182 pp | $13.00
ISBN: 9780982758106

By Levi Rickert, Native News Network

It has been said that the federal government has never really known what to do with American Indians. Furthermore, the relationship between American Indian tribes and the federal government has always been quite complex.

The Last Great Battle Of The Indian Wars

To Self-Determination

During the course of American history, the federal government developed what is called Federal Indian Policy. As time evolved, there have been various shifts in Federal Indian Policy, in accordance to how the federal government dealt with us. These shifts evolved, because the federal government discovered they could not kill our ancestors all off – Indians are both resilient and survivors. And, they still had to deal with us.

There reached a point when the federal government decided to terminate its relationship with certain Indian tribes, thus there was a Federal Indian Policy called the termination period, which was in essence a point of attempting to force assimilation on American Indians.

The termination period did not work.

Today, American Indians live under an era of Federal Indian Policy labeled self-determination.

How American Indians got to the self-determination period is examined by veteran journalist Mark N. Trahant in a book entitled, “The Last Great Battle of the Indian Wars: Henry M. Jackson, Forrest J. Gerard and the Campaign for the Self-determination of America’s Indian Tribes.”

The book’s title alone is daunting, but do not despair. Trahant (Shoshone-Bannock), the former editor of the editorial page for the “Seattle Post-Intelligencer,” has been covering Indian Country for more than three decades, describes the shift in Federal Indian Policy in laymen terms that can be easily understood.

Henry M. Jackson was United States senator from Washington state, who is considered one of the greatest US senators of the past century because of his legislative skills in writing environmental policies that are still in place today.

Forrest J. Gerard, a Blackfeet, who grew up in Montana, flew a B-24 missions for the Air Force during World War II, came home and got a college education and landed in Washington DC, where he became a legislative aide to Senator Jackson.

Senator Jackson and Gerard formed a formidable team that went on to develop and write American Indian legislation that shifted Federal Indian Policy from the termination period to the self-determination era.

Trahant, who knows his way around Indian Country and Washington, supplies the backdrop to the various Washington players involved in the process from President Richard Nixon, John Ehrlichman, Senator Edward Kennedy, President Gerald R. Ford, Senator George McGovern, Senator James Abourezk, among others.

“The Last Great Battle of the Indian Wars” provides interesting historic information that provide context as to why things happened the way they did in history. For instance, Trahant inserts a major reason why President Nixon was motivated to help move from the termination period to self-determination. Nixon’s coach at Whittier College, Wallace J. “Chief” Newman, who was an American Indian, who greatly influenced Nixon to keep trying to win even after you lose. But, please do not blame Watergate on Coach Newman.

“The Last Great Battle of the Indian Wars” is well written and provides the background to the bridge between one Federal Indian Policy to the next. Trahant’s story of the Jackson and Gerard allow the reader to see two of the most two unsung heroes that helped to bring American Indians to where we are today.

Diné be’ liná, Inc. Weavers Receives National Endowment for the Arts Grant

Source: Native News Network

WINDOW ROCK, ARIZONA – Diné be’ liná, Inc. is one of 817 nonprofits nationwide to receive a National Endowment for the Arts works grant. The amount of the grant is $15,840 to support training for Navajo fiber artists.

Master Navajo weavers will instruct emerging artists in successful weaving methods, procuring materials and promoting their art within and outside of the Navajo Nation.

“Diné be’ iiná is excited to learn of the National Endowment for the Arts’ support for this project, which will provide the skill and knowledge needed to help them gain economic self-sufficiency,”

stated Executive Director TahNibaa Naataanii.

Diné be’ liná is a grassroots nonprofit organization founded in1991. Diné be’ liná’s mission is to restore the balance between Navajo culture, life, and land. While serving all sheep producers, the organization is particularly dedicated to conserving the traditional Navajo-Churro sheep breed as well as to educating the community and the public about the Navajo sheep culture and spirituality.

The organization’s goals are to restore status to sheep herding, wool processing, and fiber arts and to promote the education that is necessary for their pursuit in the modern world. Diné be’ liná’s activities provide leadership, economic development, and support for traditional life ways of Navajo shepherds and fiber artists.

Competition for grants was heavy. The National Endowment for the Arts received 1,547 applications for Art Works grants that totaled $80 million in funding requests. Art Works grants support the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and the strengthening of communities through the arts.

Pro-gun Native American billboard draws criticism

Two billboards in which images of Native Americans are used to make a gun rights argument are causing a stir with some residents who say the image is offensive and insensitive.

Source: The Associated Press

GREELEY, Colo. — Two billboards in which images of Native Americans are used to make a gun rights argument are causing a stir with some residents who say the image is offensive and insensitive.

The billboards in this northern Colorado city show three men dressed in traditional Native American attire and the words “Turn in your arms. The government will take care of you.”

Matt Wells, an account executive with Lamar Advertising in Denver, said Monday a group of local residents purchased the space.

“They have asked to remain anonymous,” he said.

He also refused to disclose the cost, but said the billboards are only appearing in the Greeley area. Wells said he has not received any complaints so far.

“I think it’s a little bit extreme, of course, but I think people are really worried about their gun rights and what liberties are going to be taken away,” Wells told the Greeley Tribune (http://tinyurl.com/cdtkgj2).

Greeley resident Kerri Salazar, who is of Native American descent, said she was livid when she learned about it. She said she doesn’t have a problem with the gun rights message, but she’s offended the Native American people were singled out, apparently without their consent.

“I think we all get that (Second Amendment) message. What I don’t understand is how an organization can post something like that and not think about the ripple effect that it’s gonna have through the community,” she said.

Irene Vernon, a Colorado State University professor and chairwoman of the ethnic studies department, said the message on the billboard is taking a narrow view of a much more complicated history of the Native American plight. She said it’s not as if Native Americans just gave up their guns and wound up on reservations.

“It wasn’t just about our guns,” said Vernon, a Native American.

Greeley resident Maureen Brucker, who has worked with Native American organizations and who frequents the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota as an honorary family member, said she thinks the billboards are making light of atrocities the federal government committed against Native Americans.

She said the billboard brings to her mind one of the most horrendous examples of that, the Wounded Knee Massacre on the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1890. Historical accounts say the 7th Cavalry had detained a band of Native Americans and asked them to give up their weapons. Troops began firing after a shot rang out. Death toll estimates of Native American men, women and children range from 150 to 300.

Brucker said she thinks those who put up the billboards should come forward and to discuss their viewpoints.

“I thought it was pretty cowardly that someone would put something like that up and spend the money for a billboard but didn’t have the courage to put their name on it,” she said.

—

Information from: Greeley Daily Tribune, http://greeleytribune.com

SIPI Student Wendi Cole Named a 2013 New Century Scholar

Wendi Cole, 2013New Century Scholar — Wendi Cole, 2013
New Century Scholar

Source: Office of the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today announced that Wendi Cole, a member of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe in South Dakota and student at the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute, has been named a 2013 New Century Scholar and selected for the All-USA Community College Academic Team.

“I want to congratulate Wendi Cole on her impressive accomplishment and the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute for having a student receive such prestigious honors,” Washburn said. “I am proud to see our students making such an academic impact.”

The New Century Scholars Program is sponsored by The Coca-Cola Foundation, Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation, Phi Theta Kappa, and the American Association of Community Colleges. The 50 winners of the 2013 New Century Scholars competition include students from schools in the United States, Canada and the Federated States of Micronesia. The students received a total of $100,000 in scholarships. The awards were announced on April 23.

Cole was among those selected out of more than 1,800 applicants from 800 community colleges nationwide. Nominees were judged on grades, leadership, activities and how they extend their intellectual talents beyond the classroom. She was the top scorer and only recipient to be named a New Century Scholar from the State of New Mexico. Cole was awarded a $2,000 scholarship and a special medallion.

Cole also was one of 20 students named to the All-USA Community College Academic Team. The team is sponsored by Follett Higher Education Group and presented by USA TODAY and Phi Theta Kappa. The New Century Scholars program and the All-USA Community College Academic Team share a common application and together recognize outstanding community college students. Cole was featured in the April 23^rd edition of USA TODAY.

New Century Scholars are the highest scoring students in each state, plus one student from Canada and one additional student chosen from among one of the remaining seven sovereign nations where Phi Theta Kappa is represented.

Cole is in her second year at Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI) in Albuquerque, N.M, pursuing a double-major in pre-engineering and computer-aided drafting. After completing her associate’s and bachelor’s degrees, her goal is to obtain a master’s degree in engineering. She has served as president of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society’s SIPI chapter and worked on community education projects involving renewable energy. She also serves as a student representative for the SIPI Pre-Engineering Advisory Committee, as a peer mentor for engineering majors, and as a tutor in math and science.

In addition to her college career, Cole is also the mother of a child with autism, which inspired her choice to study the fields of science and technology. They have worked together in doing their own research on autism.

The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) is responsible for ensuring the implementation of federal education laws, including the No Child Left Behind Act, in 183 BIE-funded elementary and secondary schools and residential programs on 64 reservations in 23 states. The system serves about 40,000 American Indian and Alaska Native students and employs more than 5,000 teachers, administrators and support personnel. The BIE also provides resources and technical assistance to 124 tribally administered BIE-funded schools, 27 tribal colleges and universities and two technical colleges. It also directly oversees two post-secondary institutions: SIPI and the Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kan.

SIPI is a National Indian Community College established in 1971 at the request of the 19 Pueblos of New Mexico and other federally recognized tribes in the United States to help train American Indians and Alaska Natives for employment. It is advised by a national, tribally appointed Board of Regents. SIPI provides career technical training and transfer degree programs to students from the nation’s 566 federally recognized tribes. It offers competitive job training programs; granting of Associate of Applied Science, Associate of Arts and Associate of Science degrees; and opportunities to transfer into four-year degree programs.

In another Great Migration, American Indians are moving to urban centers

More than seven of 10 Indians and Alaska Natives now live in a metropolitan area, according to Census Bureau data released this year, compared with 45 percent in 1970 and 8 percent in 1940.

NICOLE BENGIVENO / The New York TimesA mural painted by children at the Little Earth of United Tribes housing complex in Minneapolis. More than 7 in 10 Native Americans now live in metropolitan areas, and many are finding urban life difficult. — NICOLE BENGIVENO / The New York Times
A mural painted by children at the Little Earth of United Tribes housing complex in Minneapolis. More than 7 in 10 Native Americans now live in metropolitan areas, and many are finding urban life difficult.

By Timothy Williams, The New York Times

MINNEAPOLIS — Nothing in her upbringing on a remote Indian reservation in northern Minnesota prepared Jean Howard for her introduction to city life during a visit here eight years ago: an outbreak of gunfire, followed by the sight of people scattering.

She watched, confused, before realizing that she should run, too. “I said: ‘I’m not living here. This is crazy,’” she recalled.

Not long afterward, however, Howard did return, and found a home in Minneapolis. She is part of a continuing and largely unnoticed mass migration of American Indians, whose move to urban centers over the past several decades has fundamentally changed both reservations and cities.

Though they are widely associated with rural life, more than seven of 10 Indians and Alaska Natives now live in a metropolitan area, according to Census Bureau data released this year, compared with 45 percent in 1970 and 8 percent in 1940.

The trend mirrors the pattern of millions of African Americans who left the rural South during the Great Migration of the 20th century and moved to cities in the North and West. But while many black migrants found jobs in meatpacking plants, stockyards and automobile factories, American Indians have not had similar success finding work.

“When you look at it as a percentage, the black migration was nothing in comparison to the percentage of Native Americans who have come to urban areas,” said Dr. Philip R. Lee, an assistant secretary for health during the Clinton administration and an emeritus professor of social medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.

Recent budget figures show that federal money has not followed the migration, with only about 1 percent of spending by the Indian Health Service going to urban programs. Cities, with their own budget problems, are also failing to meet their needs.

One effect of the move toward cities has been a proliferation of Native American street gangs, which mimic and sometimes form partnerships with more well-established African-American and Latino gangs, according to the FBI and local law enforcement reports.

The migration goes to the heart of the question of whether the more than 300 reservations in the United States are an imperative or a hindrance to Native Americans, a debate that dates to the 19th century, when the reservation system was created by the federal government.

Citing generational poverty and other shortcomings on reservations, a federal policy from the 1950s to the 1970s pressured Indian populations to move to cities. Though unpopular on reservations, the effort helped prompt the migration, according to those who have moved to cities in recent years and academics who have studied the trend.

Regardless of where they live, a greater proportion of Indians live in poverty than any other group, at a rate that is nearly double the national average. Census data show that 27 percent of all Native Americans live in poverty, compared with 25.8 percent of African Americans, who are the next highest group, and 14.3 percent of Americans overall.

Moreover, data show that, in a number of metropolitan areas, American Indians have levels of impoverishment that rival some of the nation’s poorest reservations. Denver, Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz., for instance, have poverty rates for Indians approaching 30 percent. In Chicago, Oklahoma City, Houston and New York — where more Indians live than any other city — about 25 percent live in poverty.

Even worse off are those living in Rapid City, S.D., where the poverty level stands at more than 50 percent, and in Minneapolis, where more than 45 percent live in poverty.

“Our population has dealt with all these problems in the past,” said Jay Bad Heart Bull, the president and chief operating officer of the Native American Community Development Institute, a social-services agency in Minneapolis. “But it’s easier to get lost in the city. It’s easier to disappear.”

Despite the rampant poverty, many view Minneapolis as a symbol of progress. The city’s Indian population, about 2 percent of the total, is more integrated than in most other metropolitan areas, and there are social services and legal- and job-training programs specifically focused on them.

The city has a Native American City Council member, Robert Lilligren; a Native American state representative, Susan Allen; and a police chief, Janee Harteau, who is part Indian. But city life has brought with it familiar social ills like alcoholism and high unemployment, along with less familiar problems, including racism, heroin use and aggressive street gangs.

At the heart of one experiment to halt the cycle of poverty here is Little Earth of United Tribes, a sprawling 212-apartment complex, the nation’s only public-housing project that gives American Indians preference. It offers a wide array of social services, from empowerment counselors and bike rentals to couples’ therapy and a teen center that offers homework help, computers and board games. Houses are being built next to the complex to promote homeownership.

The typical resident is a single mother with children. The unemployment rate, more than 65 percent, is only marginally better than at impoverished reservations like Pine Ridge in South Dakota.

Bill Ziegler, the housing project’s president and chief executive officer, said he came to Minneapolis from the Lower Brule reservation in South Dakota in 2004 with a wife and five children. In the first six months, he said, there were five gang homicides, and from 2005 to 2007 only three students graduated from high school, a rate of about 5 percent.

Ziegler said the board was moving toward requiring that every resident have a job, be enrolled in school, or serve as a volunteer.

School Winners

Quil Ceda-Tulalip Elementary School wins Cultural Awareness Award

Source: The Herald

The Lakewood High School jazz choir, Swingbeat, took first place for the fourth consecutive year at the Pleasant Hill Jazz Festival, held April 20 in Oregon, the most recent of its accomplishments this year. In addition, Conrad Gruener took home a Festival Soloist Award for his guitar solo for a second year.

Other members of Swingbeat: Mariah Avellaneda, Kylie Bolin, Brent Cross, Ryan Cross, Charles Davis, Andrea Eitner, Cassidy Fry, Kelsi Fry, Kendra Guinn, Jamie Johnson, Megan Knibbe, Aaron Lapointe, Charlotte Mack, Jacob Mack, Megan Mccrorey, Sierra Murdzia, Cara Nordquist, Bryce Shepard, Laena Skiles, Caleb Smith, Ryleigh Stover, Kaley Trapp and Sylvia Wentz.

The choir also performed at the Frank DeMiero Jazz Festival in March, where vocalist Kelsi Fry won a solo award. Earlier, they performed on stage at Disneyland.

Director Katy Trapp said Swingbeat this year was the first vocal jazz group to be selected into KPLU’s School of Jazz, now in its ninth year. The group recently recorded with vocal jazz professional Greta Matassa; a CD will be released by KPLU in May.

Mariner choir enjoys success in Florida

Hard work paid off for members of the men’s, women’s and chamber choirs at Mariner High School in south Everett. All three groups earned first-place, gold medal awards at the Heritage Music Festival in Orlando over spring break and won the choir sweepstakes award. Senior Hector Ruiz also was awarded an individual excellence award.

Choir director Patty Schmidt said the students are now looking forward to accepting an invitation to perform at the National Youth Choir at Carnegie Hall in New York City next year. It will be the second time the group has received such an invitation.

Monroe students take top music honors

Musicians from the Monroe High School instrumental music program won the Sweepstakes Award for Best Instrumental Program at the recent Heritage Music Festival in Seattle, as well as the Adjudicators Award. The Monroe students competed against bands from Washington, Oregon, British Columbia and Alberta, Canada.

In addition, the wind ensemble received the only Gold rating as well as first place, and the symphonic band received a Silver rating and second place in the 3A Concert Band division. Both groups also won Outstanding Band Group trophies. The percussion ensemble also received a silver rating.

Band director Lisa White said the wind ensemble now looks forward to competing by invitation at the national level.

Schools give away 330 books — to parents

Staff members from Monte Cristo and Mountain Way elementary schools in Granite Falls on April 23 gave away 330 free books to local parents to help increase literacy awareness as part of World Book Night.

Monte Cristo multiage teacher Debra Howell received a grant worth $5,000 in free books from the World Book Night organization to participate in the national event. Teachers distributed about 165 books at each school.

“We have a strong focus on children’s literacy in our elementary schools so this is a perfect way to promote adult literacy,” Howell said. “We don’t have a book store in Granite Falls for adults to purchase books so this is just one way for parents to receive a brand new book just for themselves,” she added.

Everett teen selected for German exchange

Maike Zehrung, a senior at Cascade High School in Everett, was one of 25 students in the United States chosen to be part of the Congress-Bundestag Vocational Youth Exchange Program.

The full-scholarship program will allow Zehrung to spend a year in Germany living with a host family and getting hands-on work experience through an internship with a German company.

Zehrung will leave in July for Washington, D.C. for orientation and then to Munich, Germany for an intensive German language course prior to the host family and internship assignment.

Math whiz named district Key Club treasurer

Eric Grewal, a member of Monroe High School’s Key Club, was recently elected treasurer of the Pacific Northwest District Key Club, thanks to his math skills and a successful election campaign.

This is the first time a Monroe Key Club member has been elected to a district office. The district includes four states and two provinces. Key Club is the high school level of Kiwanis International.

In campaigning for the position, Grewal said he used his DECA skills to sell himself and his qualifications. DECA is a high school marketing club. Eric heads to DECA International competitions later this month after placing fourth in business finance at a state competition.

Arts group celebrates book lovers

A reception for winners of the Edmonds Arts Commission “Best Book I Ever Read” poster contest for third-graders was held April 18 in Edmonds Plaza Room.

This year’s Outstanding Award winners, by school:

Chase Lake: Mei Brown, Yocelin Espino, Rileigh Hanson , Nadia Martynenko, Mady Parks and Emily Swank

Westgate: Sara Cambronero, and Cylis Manfredo

Seaview: Cadence Entermille, Myles Heckman, Amanda Ly, Kylie Reynolds andNikki Susanto

Holy Rosary: Nathan Holt, Maya Kidder and Alistair McDonald

Sherwood: Larissa Meyer and Matthew Smith

Maplewood: Tessa Sather and Elizabeth Yockey

For a list of Honorable Mention winners, visit www.edmondswa.gov. Winning posters are on display through May 16 in the Frances Anderson Center, 700 Main St.

Kamiak senior honored by Everett-Mukilteo Rotary

Kevin Baron was named the Kamiak High School March Student of the Month by the South Everett-Mukilteo Rotary Club.

Along with maintaining an impressive GPA, Kevin is involved in Knowledge Bowl, Dramafest and the soccer team, of which he is captain. Kevin also is a National Merit Finalist and the 2013 American Mathematics Contest 12 Winner.

Kevin plans to attend the University of Washington, where he has been admitted to the computer science program.

Lynnwood Rotary gives out scholarships

Each year the Lynnwood Rotary Club provides students with scholarships for their academic and vocational achievements. This year additional funding from the Martha Lake Community Club enabled the Rotary Club to award $27,000 in scholarships.

Nine students were awarded $3,000 scholarships.

Academic scholarships: Arsenia Ivanov (Lynnwood), Katelin Kobuke (Edmonds-Woodway), Lindsay Meany (Holy Names Academy), Caitlin Plummer (Meadowdale), Sophie Shanshory (Edmonds-Woodway), Soren Steelquist (Lynnwood), and Isabelle Yalowicki (Edmonds-Woodway).

Vocational scholarships: Kathryn Lowe (Lynnwood) and Srip Ouk (Edmonds-Woodway).

Mountlake Terrace Elementary granted 42 bikes

Forty-two bikes were delivered to Mountlake Terrace Elementary School this month. The bikes are funded through a federal Safe Routes to Schools grant, which is administered by the state.

The grant was possible through a partnership between the city of Mountlake Terrace, the Cascade Bicycle Club, and the Edmonds School District. The grant also will pay for a new sidewalk in Mountlake Terrace, two trailers full of bikes to expand bicycle education to every elementary and middle school in the Edmonds School District, a free bike helmet for each child at Mountlake Terrace Elementary, a weekly Wheels Club, a Bike Rodeo in May, and a bike safety assembly.

The Edmonds Bicycle Advocacy Group also promoted the program.

Arlington teens attend Mathday

Arlington High School students attended the annual University of Washington Mathday on March 25. Over 1,300 area high school students attended the event, which included seminars, field trips and labs with professors. A featured lecture from biochemistry professor David Baker touched on the topic: “Can Calculations Compete with 3 Billion Years of Evolution?”

Other topics AHS students learned about included atmospheric modeling, different applications of the Gale-Shapley algorithm, and using Twitter to understand population demographics and health, among others.

Young opera talent awarded scholarship

Denná Good-Mojab, 16, of Lynnwood, has been awarded the 2013-14 Hans Wolf Award by the University of Washington School of Music’s Voice Division.

This scholarship is for seniors in the School of Music who are studying vocal performance.

Denná debuted in 2007 at age 10 with the Portland Opera. She has since performed in several productions with the Portland and Seattle Operas, as well as UW Opera Theater, where she played the lead role of Amahl in the 2011 production of “Amahl and the Night Visitors.”

Denná’s junior recital will be held at 7:30 p.m. June 1 at UW’s Brechemin Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, see www.facebook.com/DennaGoodMojab.

Griffith inducted into honor society

Marysville resident Joshua Griffith was inducted into the Alpha Chi Honor Society April 20. Griffith is a senior computer science major at Harding University in Arkansas.

The society recognizes the academic excellence of college students nationwide. Selected students fall in the top 10 percent of their class.

Spanish teacher honored by Rotary

Beth Knutsen, Spanish teacher at Lynnwood High School, has been named the Alderwood-Terrace Rotary Club’s Educator of the Month for April. “She is a thoughtful person who manages to convey her deep desire for students to understand the culture of Spanish-speaking countries and the excitement of learning a foreign language,” Principal David Golden said.

Schools honored by state for best practices

Schools receiving 2012 Washington Achievement Awards will be honored at a ceremony on April 30 at Kentwood High School in Covington.

The award is based on the Washington Achievement Index and celebrates schools for overall excellence and special recognition in various subject areas.

Arlington School District: Kent Prairie Elementary (overall excellence and science)

Edmonds School District: Brier Elementary (closing achievement gaps), Challenge Elementary (math and science), Chase Lake Elementary (closing achievement gaps and high progress), Edmonds Elementary (closing achievement gaps), Edmonds Heights K-12 (extended graduation rate), Hazelwood Elementary (high progress), Maplewood Parent Coop (overall excellence and science), Meadowdale Elementary (closing achievement gaps), Meadowdale Middle School (closing achievement gaps), and Seaview Elementary (closing achievement gaps)

Everett School District: Cedar Wood Elementary gifted (overall excellence), Forest View Elementary (overall excellence and science), Gateway Middle School (overall excellence and science), Heatherwood Middle School (overall excellence), Jefferson Elementary (closing achievement gaps and science), Mill Creek Elementary (overall excellence-gifted), Silver Lake Elementary (overall excellence, math, science and high progress), and Woodside Elementary (science)

Lake Stevens School District: Hillcrest Elementary (closing achievement gaps and high progress)

Marysville School District: Marysville Coop Program (science) and Marysville Middle School (closing achievement gaps)

Monroe School District: Sky Valley Education Center (extended graduation rate)

Mukilteo School District: Columbia Elementary (closing achievement gaps), Fairmount Elementary (science), Kamiak High School (overall excellence and math), Mariner High School (language arts), Odyssey Elementary (overall excellence and science)

Snohomish School District: Glacier Peak High School (extended graduation rate)

Sultan School District: Sultan Elementary (closing achievement gaps and science)

WEA announces award winners

The Washington Education Association announced the winners of its Human and Civil Rights Awards on April 25 at its annual convention in Bellevue.

Winning one of the Cultural Awareness Awards was the entire staff of Quil Ceda-Tulalip Elementary School in Marysville for integrating Native culture in academics and, in the process, outperforming some 1,700 other schools across the country that receive Federal School Improvement Grants.

The Community Service Award went to the English Language Learners Family Literacy Program in the Edmonds area for the depth of the program and the numbers it serves. The program serves more than 600 parents, offers free English classes, on-site child care services and homework support.

Quinault Nation: Applauding the President’s Drug Control Policy

Source: Indian Country Today Media Network

The Quinault Nation, based in Taholah, Washington, released the following statement approving the President’s 2013 National Drug Control Strategy, released on April 24. The policy builds on the foundation laid down by the Administration’s previous three strategies and serves as the Nation’s blueprint for reducing drug use and its consequences. The collaborative and scientific-based approach involves 1) prevention through education; 2) expanded access to treatment for Americans struggling with addiction; 3) reform of the criminal justice system to break the cycle of drug use, crime and incarceration while protecting public safety; and 4) support for Americans in recovery by lifting the stigma associated with those suffering or in recovery from substance abuse disorders.

We enthusiastically applaud President Obama’s announcement today that his Administration will pursue a 21st Century Drug Policy to replace the ‘tough on crime’ policy with a new ‘smart on crime policy’,” said Fawn Sharp, President of the Quinault Indian Nation and the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians.

Far too long, the U.S. approach to drug control has been focused on a “war” that has long since been proved to be unwinnable, rather than an approach based on holistic healing and education as well as a logical approach that combines enforcement with opportunities for victims and potential victims of drug addiction to overcome and prevent addiction as the disease that it is, said Sharp.

“The failed approaches of the past have cost this country dearly. Every year, the price tag in lost productivity, healthcare and criminal justice has mounted to hundreds of billions of dollars. But the cost in lost lives and lost human potential has gone way beyond dollars and cents, diminishing the potential of hundreds of thousands of individuals, jeopardizing the health and safety of entire families and communities,” she said.

“Indian tribes have by no means been immune to this curse. Right here in the Northwest, and throughout the country, drugs have cost native people dearly, and we have been working hard to meet this challenge head on,” she said.

“This President’s vision is very welcome and way past due. We embrace it and we at Quinault will do all we can to support it,” she said.

This is a disease that can be cured, if we approach it properly. President Obama’s approach is a science-driven plan, backed by clear research and evidence. Progress is already being made under his leadership and guidance. The use of certain drugs is on the decline, as is drug-related imprisonment, said Sharp.

“We absolutely concur with the President’s holistic approach, which is based on attacking drug abuse as public health issue as well as a criminal issue. Tribes have already seen it to be true, that going to the source of the disease and working toward a cure makes far more sense than approaching it through enforcement alone,” she said.

The President’s policy is based on four primary objectives:1)Preventing drug use before it begins through education; 2)Expanding access to treatment for Americans struggling with addiction; 3)Reforming the country’s criminal justice system to break the cycle of drug use, crime and incarceration and 4)Supporting Americans in recovery and lifting the stigma associated with substance use disorders. These policies are based on definitive research that shows drug addiction is a disease of the brain.

“Drug abuse has no place in the lives of our tribal members, or any other American. For generations our Native American people have been healing from a number of challenges and diseases brought on through our interaction with non-tribal society. Drug and alcohol abuse have been among the worst of these challenges. But we are dealing with these challenges, and we are making progress. With the help of insightful policies such as this President’s new policy on drug abuse, combined with our own and with our reliance on the healthy and holistic traditional values of our ancestors, we will continue to make progress, and our people will continue to become all that they can be,” said Sharp.

Most notably, the President’s Budget includes a request for an increase of copy.5 billion over the FY 2012 level to fund drug treatment and prevention services in America – a 16 percent increase over FY 2012. As a result, the President’s Budget requests more for treatment and prevention—copy0.7 billion—than for Federally-funded domestic drug law enforcement and incarceration – $9.6 billion.

“This is what a 21st century approach to drug policy looks like,” said Sharp. “It will be critically important to assure that an adequate amount of this funding is appropriated to Native American programs.”

Sen. Max Baucus’ Retirement Signals Another Indian Ally Lost

By Rob Capriccioso, Indian Country Today Media Network

If a politician’s commitment to Indian country can be measured by the amount of money he’s directed to it, then retiring Sen. Max Baucus (D-Montana) has been among the most committed in recent memory.

According to the senator’s website, at least copy0 billion has been designated for Native American programs and tribes during his tenure as chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, a title he has held since 2001. But his contributions aren’t limited to cash. Baucus supported urban Indian health and anti-diabetes measures, and worked to get increased resources for the Indian Health Service. Ken Salazar, the recently departed Secretary of the Interior, has said Baucus was a key player in passing the Crow Water Settlement Act of 2010, which resolved a 30-plus-year dispute. He also played a role in other tribal water settlements, and in getting the Indian Health Care Improvement Act passed in 2010.

Now that Baucus and a handful of other Indian-friendly senators have announced their retirements, many Indians are thinking of ways to educate a new batch of Congressional leaders—a never-ending job, but one that takes on increased importance when those with institutionalized tribal knowledge and experience move on. “We’ve lost Senator Inouye, and Senators Akaka, Lautenberg, and Johnson announced their retirements. Now my old boss, Senator Baucus, is moving back to Bozeman [Montana],” says Tom Rogers, a lobbyist with Carlyle Consulting who worked as a congressional staffer for Baucus for 25 years before forming his own lobbying firm. “We are losing and have lost some mighty oak trees.”

Baucus, 71, announced on April 23 that he would leave Congress at the completion of his current term, which ends in December 2014. The news stunned many in Washington, including some members on his staff. He has been building a ranch in Bozeman, and he recently got married (for the third time), so many have speculated that he is ready to settle down and relax.

Baucus explained his decision in an op-ed published by The Great Falls Tribune. “It whispered to me among the elk resting in a meadow east of the Bridger Mountains,” he wrote. “I heard it as thousands of snow geese flew over the Rocky Mountain Front. The pull came up from my soul like the ducks that rose in clouds from the winter wheat fields of Teton County at dusk.”

He also said he is happier than he’s ever been, while vowing to focus on meaningful tax reform during his remaining months in the Senate—something that seems feasible, since leading Republicans and Democrats, as well President Barack Obama, all have said they want to make progress in that area.

Baucus told Indian Country Today Media Network he has been honored to work on behalf of tribes. “Serving the people of Montana, including our reservation communities, has been the greatest honor of my life,” he said. “You don’t become the longest-serving Senator in Montana history without a lot of help from a lot of people—and I owe much of my success to the tremendous support from folks in Indian country. Montana is so lucky to enjoy the rich culture and history our tribes bring to the state.

“I have worked hard over the years to represent all Montanans and giving a voice to Indian country is very important to me. Together we’ve accomplished a lot, from the Indian Health Care Improvement Act to the Cobell settlement to funding for infrastructure and education. But we still have a lot of work ahead of us to support good-paying jobs in Indian country. Over the next year and a half, I’ll be just as dedicated to working for our Montana reservation communities, including pushing my bill to fully fund water projects and making sure Indian country plays an important role in my Economic Development Summit.”

“My overall sense is that his retirement could give a shot in the arm to comprehensive tax code reform, including key tribal provisions,” says Paul Moorehead, an Indian affairs lawyer with Drinker Biddle who is a former Senate staffer. “His counterpart on the House side, Representative Camp, is term-limited… So what we have is two men who after 2014 will be gone from the helms of the House and Senate tax-writing committees, and a re-elected president who is interested in tax reform as a way to strengthen the economy.”

Indian country, especially Montana tribes, have learned that Baucus is largely respectful of tribal sovereign nations, and he aided Native America through financial programs he created and controlled as the Finance Committee chair, such as the Tribal Economic Development (TED) Bond program that launched in 2009 under the Obama administration’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The program has since been expanded by the Internal Revenue Service, and is believed to be aiding an increasing number of tribes by exempting their borrowing on many more projects than they were able to before the law passed. Using TED bonds, tribes can finance almost anything that state governments are able to finance through tax-exempt bonds.

Rogers was disappointed some Democrats said they are glad to see Baucus retire, because he is not progressive on issues like gun control. “They have to remember the state he comes from. And Indian issues don’t need to be politicized, so the fact that he could work with Republicans on our issues often benefitted Indian country.” On that point, Chris Stearns, an Indian affairs lawyer with Hobbs, Straus, Dean & Walker who was previously a House staffer adds, “Like past Indian country champions in the Senate from North and South Dakota, he showed that you don’t have to be a senator from a liberal or so-called progressive state to get things done for Native Americans. You just have to have courage, strong convictions, and the support of Indian people.”

There’s no doubt his departure will leave a hole for tribes in the Senate, says Stearns, but he adds that it is not as dire a picture as some worriers might paint. “Leaders always emerge, but more importantly, we need to remember that Indian country’s champions are already there,” Stearns says. “Leaders like Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, Jon Tester and Al Franken have already proven themselves.”

Sen. Tester, who will become the senior senator from Montana once Baucus departs, says he is sad to see his colleague and mentor go, but has vowed to continue his advocacy for Indian country. Andrea Helling, a spokeswoman for Tester, says Sen. Tester and his staff “will continue to work closely with Montana reservations on economic development projects and the quality of life issues that support economic development, like the permanent reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, the SAVE the Native Women Act, the HEARTH Act, and the Tribal Law and Order Act.”

Despite that promise, Stearns says Indian country needs to continue to foster its relationship with him and other members of Congress. “One of the key points to remember when you look back at the storied careers of Senators like Dan Inouye, Byron Dorgan, Tom Daschle or Max Baucus is that it is just as important for them to win elections so they could enjoy the lengthy careers that really paid off for Indian tribes and Indian people. Indian country will have no trouble rebounding, but Indian country can never afford to take its foot off the pedal when it comes to exercising the power of the Native vote, so we can keep our champions in office.”

Rogers agrees that Native Americans need to get increasingly involved with U.S. elections. “It’s critically important for Indian country to realize that its power emanates from voting,” he says.

Rogers is one of the few who sees a silver-lining in Baucus’s announcement, pointing out that he will soon be able to advocate for tribes from outside the Senate, whether through lobbying or a non-profit program.

Others are less sanguine. “Max has given decades of service and he deserves to spend time enjoying life instead of leading the life of a senator, which is hectic and stressful… so from Max’s perspective, this is a good thing,” says George Waters, President of George Waters Consulting Service. “However, from Montana’s perspective and the perspective of Montana’s tribes, and tribes across the country, this is definitely not a good thing. Max has tremendous power and has used it to benefit his constituents, including the tribes of his state… To lose someone with that power, seniority, staff and history will hurt, there is no other way to put it. However, the tribes are resilient and we’ve had great advocates from Montana in the past like Lee Metcalf, Mike Mansfield and Pat Williams. When they left the Congress, the void, at the time, seemed insurmountable, but they have been replaced by highly regarded members. Life will go on.”

Some are speculating that former Democratic Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer will run for the seat Baucus is vacating. The popular governor has said he strongly supports tribal sovereignty, and he has a record of supporting tribal bison and cultural issues. Still, Rogers would like to see more concrete tribal economic development and anti-poverty ideas emerge from Schweitzer if he does become a senatorial candidate.

But for now, the focus is on Baucus, and Rogers, who has known him since 1978, says he is happy for the retiring senator. “I consider him my friend, and he is very much at peace—that is a good thing to see and to want for a friend. I am smiling for what comes next for him.”